July 20 - Verna Felton

Image courtesy imdb.com

On this day, in 1890, Verna Felton was born in Salinas, California. When she was ten, Verna performed in a San Jose benefit for the victims of the Galveston Flood of 1900. She attracted the attention of the manager of a travelling show in the area, who offered her a contract. Verna's mother declined on her behalf. Shortly thereafter, her father died, leaving the family in bad financial shape. Verna's mother then contacted the show manager, who quickly produced a contract and she spent the remainder of her formative years in the theater.

Verna toured with the Allen Stock Company up and down the West Coast of the United States and Canada. Initially she was billed as "Little Verna Felton, the Child Wonder" but by 1907, she had become one of the company's leading ladies. In 1910, one of the troupe's shows was The Defiance of Doris, which had been written specifically for Verna. By the Twenties, Verna had stopped touring and settled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She was ensconced in the Empress Theatre there, again as one of their leading ladies.

Image courtesy flickr.com

Verna moved to Hollywood in the Thirties and became a staple on radio programs from coast to coast. She started in 1937 as the mother in The Cinnamon Bear, a serial designed to air between Thanksgiving and Christmas and was rebroadcast every year for decades (you might even be able to find it somewhere in the world this holiday season). From there, Verna moved on to have recurring roles on The Great Gildersleeve, The Jack Benny Program, Point Sublime, The Abbott and Costello Show, The Joan Davis Show, The Judy Canova Show, A Day in the Life of Dennis Day, The Red Skelton Show, December Bride and My Little Margie. She was queen (or aunt or nosy neighbor) of the airwaves for two decades, right up until television began to capture people's imaginations. And she really only slowed down enough to change mediums.

Image copyright Disney

As television clawed its way to the top of America's entertainment heap, Verna rode the wave of radio programs that made the leap. She reprised roles that audiences had only heard her in on the new versions of The Jack Benny Program, The Dennis Day Show and December Bride. Her portrayal of Hilda Crocker on Bride, and its spin-off Pete and Gladys, earned her Emmy nominations in 1958 and 1959. One of Verna's most famous roles came in the early Sixties, when she was a semi-regular on The Flintstones as Pearl Slaghoople, Fred Flintstone's demanding mother-in-law. She also enjoyed guest appearances on I Love Lucy, Wagon Train, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show and the final episode of Dennis the Menace.

Image copyright Disney

Verna's most enduring body of work, though, came through her long association with the Walt Disney Company. Any one of the characters from her list of Disney voice credits would make a performer proud, but she could boast all nine of them. She started in 1940 with dual roles in Dumbo, playing both the circus' Elephant Matriarch and Mrs. Jumbo, Dumbo's mother. Next, she became everyone's favorite Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, a role she actually reprised twice afterwards on the radio, once for Screen Directors Playhouse and again for Hallmark Playhouse. Verna's next role took a villainous turn when she brought to life the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland. She followed that up with Aunt Sarah in Lady and the Tramp (her son, Lee Millar, actually voiced Jim Dear), Flora, the red fairy, and Queen Leah in Sleeping Beauty and Eloise in the 1960 short Goliath II. Verna's final role for Disney was as Winifred, Colonel Hathi's wife, in The Jungle Book. All that and she hasn't been granted Legendary status. Shameful.

Verna worked right up to the end of her life (The Jungle Book was actually released posthumously). On the evening of December 14, 1966, she suffered a fatal stroke and passed away, just hours before Walt did the following morning. She was 76.